Dr. Kellyann's Blog

Attention, Diabetics and Pre-Diabetics: Let Me Know if this Trick Works for You!

Occasionally, I read a new study that makes me say “hmmm” and wonder if its findings are really true. And this is one of those times.

Today, researchers reported in the journal Diabetes Care that the order in which you eat the foods on your plate might have a big effect on your blood glucose. I say “might” because this was a very small pilot study. But if you’re diabetic or pre-diabetic, or you’re watching your blood sugar carefully for other reasons, you might try out the researchers’ advice and see if it makes a difference. (If not, it’s a harmless test.)

The study involved 11 obese patients with type two diabetes, all taking metformin to help control their blood glucose levels. The volunteers ate the same meal two times, waiting a week in between. The meal consisted of orange juice, bread, chicken, a lettuce-and-tomato salad with low-fat dressing, and steamed broccoli with butter.

At one of the meals, the volunteers ate the high-carb foods (bread and orange juice) first, and then the rest of the meal 15 minutes later. The second time, they ate the protein, vegetables, and fat first, and then waited 15 minutes to eat the carbs.

The researchers checked the participants’ blood glucose levels three times after they ate. Compared to the carbs-first meal, the carbs-last meal resulted in blood sugar levels that were 29%, 37% and 17% lower at the 30-, 60- and 120-minute marks. In addition, the carbs-last meal resulted in lower insulin levels.

If you’re already doing all of this, experiment and see if it matters whether you eat your carbs before or after the rest of your meal. Try doing just what the study participants did: Eat exactly the same meal twice, starting with the carbs first one time and then leaving them for last the second time.

Let me know the results of your experiment… I’ll be interested to hear what happens!

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